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Infant Dies At Unlicensed Daycare

Business Owner Tests Positive For Marijuana

POSTED: 4:54 pm CDT April 27, 2009
UPDATED: 7:41 pm CDT April 27, 2009

The state has closed an unlicensed Coffee County daycare center after an 8-week-old boy died at the business.

Investigators with the Manchester Police Department confirm the woman who ran the business, Edna Murray, tested positive for marijuana when they arrived at the center.

The child, Denton Brown, died while in Murray's care at her home on Oak Street in Manchester.

According to a police report, the woman put the baby down for a nap. When she checked on him an hour later, he wasn't breathing. Murray called 911 and performed CPR but was not successful in reviving the child.

Murray was taking care of 10 children at the time, according to a complaint filed by the Tennessee Department of Human Services. The law states a person needs a license if he or she cares for more than four children at a time to whom he or she isn't related.

Murray claims she was unaware she needed to be licensed with the state, yet she was licensed from 1996 to 2001.

"She absolutely knew the law, the fact that she was licensed for several years. The laws haven't changed from that long ago," said Michelle Mowery Johnson of DHS.

Police have not determined what caused the infant's death. Investigators are still waiting for autopsy results.

According to police, Murray said she did not smoke any marijuana around the children on the day she was arrested.

Police said they received a tip about a year ago that someone smelled marijuana near Murray's home. However, police were never able to substantiate those claims.

The public can check on their child's daycare or leave a tip by calling the state's child care hotline at 1-800-462-8261.

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